Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
DAMNING THE RIVERS?
Considered one of the most beautiful white-water-rafting rivers in the world, the wild
Río
Pacuare
became the first federally protected river in Central America in 1985. Within two
years, however, Costa Rica's national power company, the Instituto Costarricense de
Electricidad (ICE), unveiled plans to build a 200m gravity dam at the conveniently narrow
and screamingly scenic ravine of Dos Montañas.
The dam would be the cornerstone of the massive Siquirres Hydroelectric Project,
which would include four dams in total, linked by a 10km-long tunnel. If built, rising waters
on the lower Pacuare would not only flood 12km of rapids up to the Tres Equis put-in, but
also parts of the Reserva Indígena Awari and a huge swath of primary rainforest where
some 800 animal species have been recorded.
The project was intended to help ICE keep up with the country's rapidly increasing
power demands. But as the proposal moved from speculation to construction, a coalition
of local landowners, indigenous leaders, conservation groups and, yep, white-water-raft-
ing outfits organized against it. (Rafael Gallo, of the Fundación Ríos Tropicales, the charit-
able arm of the venerable rafting company, was a key figure in this fight.)
The group filed for the first Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in the region's his-
tory - and won. The move required ICE to seek an independent study of the dam's envir-
onmental impact and economic feasibility, effectively stalling its construction. In the
meantime, organizers were able to draw international attention to the situation. In 2005
residents of the Turrialba area held a plebiscite on the issue of the dam. Of the 10,000
residents polled, 97% gave the project a thumbs down - a resounding 'No.'
As a result of these efforts, the project has been shelved until 2016, and the lower part
of the river is now protected as a forest reserve. But there is still talk of installing a dam
further up the river. Meanwhile, the neighboring
Río Reventazón
has already lost a third
of its Class-V rapids due to the Siquirres Project. If you were thinking of going rafting in
Costa Rica, the time to do it is now.
Turrialba
Pop 31,100
When the railway shut down in 1991, commerce slowed down, but Turrialba nonetheless
remained a regional agricultural center, where local coffee planters could bring their crops
